Letter: Unfair aid

To the editorIt’s bad enough that the city bought a bill of goods in giving inexpensive access to city facilities for Lawrence Freenet, with the dubious promise of providing Internet capabilities to those who could not afford it, but to consider giving the morphed company, Wicked Broadband, a $500,000 grant and a competitive advantage over other local Internet providers is too much.

The city is not in the business of favoring one company over another. If it is, I want my company to get a break on all taxes, parking needs, construction permits, inspections and anything else I can think of for the next 20 years. That way, I won’t have to spend the money on those items, like my competitors.

If Wicked Broadband can’t get the money or terms it needs from the financial community, maybe it’s not the fault of our community’s commitment, but their financial structure, status and plan. The city should “just say no.”

with the huge surplus of money everyone in America has right now, they simply can't help but give it away to anyone who asks nicely. Given the business/city commission climate in Lawrence right now, you're a fool if you DON'T ask the city for free money.